I Regressed to My Ruined Family – 11

 #I returned, and my family was ruined (11)

It had been three days since they entered the mountain range. During that time, they had fought many battles.

That was still the case now.

Hans and Myers were fighting against a sword-toothed monster that appeared in the mountains.

“Master! On your left!”

“Yes!”

Meyer swung his sword calmly. One Sword-Toothed Beast let out a scream.

Sword-Toothed Beast.

A creature with powerful leaping ability that uses its long, sharp teeth to bite into the vital points of its prey.

Three of the five that had initially charged were quickly disposed of.

Only two Gecko Monsters remained.

The two beasts ignored Elena and charged only at Hans. This was because the human wielding the great sword was terrifyingly strong.

The instinct of beasts is to attack the weakest first.

The two charged Hans at the same time. He blocked one, but not the other.

Hans’ eyes widened when he saw the sword-toothed beast leaping toward him.

It was impossible to dodge at that speed. Soon, the beast’s long fangs grazed his neck.

“Heeek!”

The creature screamed in agony. Elena, who was right behind him, tapped Ethan’s arm.

“Ethan, that looks dangerous… Is it okay?”

“It’s fine.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. Myers is protecting him well.”

“I thought I saw blood spurt from the butler’s neck just now…”

“Myers pulled him by the waist and saved him. If he hadn’t, the beast’s fangs would have pierced his neck.”

And very deeply at that.

Ethan was about to step in, but Myers was doing better than he expected.

Hans was a very good training partner for Myers.

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While protecting him, Myers’ defensive skills were rapidly improving day by day.

“In about two months, he’ll definitely be useful.”

After that, he thought he could entrust one of the defensive roles to his youngest son.

The ten-minute battle was over.

Hans touched his neck and slumped down. Three days ago, after the battle with the spider, all of his spices had been confiscated.

It wasn’t hard to guess why.

“They want to train the youngest prince.”

His role was to be a training partner for Myers.

Thanks to that, Hans was between life and death every time a monster charged at him.

“Ugh.”

His whole body ached.

Still, he couldn’t just sit there.

His role on this journey was to be a porter and a cook.

Although, he had unexpectedly been assigned the additional role of teaching aid for Myers. Hans lit a campfire and took a small pot out of his travel bag. He looked at Ethan.

“Your Highness. Would you like some stew?”

“Yes.”

“Yes.”

He began to bustle about. It had already been three days since they entered the mountains, so he seemed to have become quite accustomed to preparing food for camping.

Meanwhile, Ethan separated the fangs and skin of the sword-toothed beast.

In order to hold the festival of fire, they had to offer tribute at the altar deep inside the mountains.

The teeth and skin of the sword-toothed beast were decent offerings.

There were many other offerings as well. They had encountered quite a few monsters during their previous expedition.

“We’ve gathered enough ingredients.”

Now all that was left was to reach the altar of fire.

Hooray!

“Yes. It’s ready. Let’s eat quickly. Stew tastes best when it’s hot.”

The four of them quickly finished the food in their bowls. Just as Hans had said, the stew tasted good.

“We’re lucky we brought the butler. Right, brother?”

“Yeah, it’s delicious.”

It was just as Myers had said.

If they hadn’t brought him, they would have had to eat dried meat for a week. They couldn’t let his sister suffer.

He had experienced that kind of life countless times in his past life, fighting dragon heads.

“It was really annoying.”

It was a life where he couldn’t enjoy any of the basic necessities.

Now that he was back in the past, and this time the dragon tribe had signed some kind of non-aggression treaty, there was no need to repeat that hardship. That was exactly why he brought Hans with him.

It was better to live like a human being, at least to some extent.

The meal was over quickly.

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After cleaning up, Hans took something out of his backpack.

It was an insect repellent sold at a general store. He sprinkled it around.

“Now, sleep well.”

The group fell asleep in an instant.

Hans, who was on watch, recalled what he had overheard.

“The blessing of fire.”

He was told that it was one of the traditions of his family before they left.

All of the others in the group, except for Hans, were direct descendants of the duke. The festival of fire must be a secret event only known to the direct descendants, not the collateral relatives.

“Why did they bring me to such a place?”

He couldn’t help but wonder.

All he could do in the mountains was act as a cook and a porter.

Revealing the secrets of the direct descendants just to give him such a role?

To Hans, it didn’t make any sense.

“Could it be that they have an important use for me?”

He hadn’t built up a strong relationship of trust with them yet.

Still, he had shown his devotion to Ethan in his own way.

He had done his best to make things convenient for the Grand Duke and his family during his time there.

These actions may have made an impression on the Grand Duke.

“Besides…”

Currently, the Grand Duke has no confidants he can trust with important tasks except his family. Important tasks require loyal servants.

Perhaps he intends to assign one of those roles to me.

The Grand Duke and the ten branches of the royal family.

Hans’s heart was gradually leaning toward the former.

“His abilities are truly monstrous.”

It had only been about two weeks since he had awakened. Nevertheless, his status was rising day by day.

It was inevitable that his heart would begin to lean toward one side.

He stared at the bonfire and sorted through his thoughts.

* *

Deep in the Pushikes Mountains.

There was a place called the Temple of Fire.

It was a temple known to have existed for a very long time.

One of his ancestors had discovered this half-abandoned place, and since then, it was said that they had offered sacrifices here and received blessings from the fire spirits.

“It must be somewhere around here.”

Even if the past had changed, a building located deep in the mountains would not have disappeared.

After searching for several hours, he found a building that looked like a shrine.

It was an old building that looked like it had been abandoned for quite some time, covered in vines.

“Is that the temple of fire your brother was talking about?”

“I think so.”

Ethan opened the temple door.

The air was thick with a musty smell, as if it hadn’t been ventilated in a long time.

“It’s been completely abandoned.”

It wasn’t like this in my past life.

At least once a year, members of the family would visit and tidy up the shrine.

The war had broken out sooner than expected.

That was probably why the shrine of fire had been forgotten. Just as he was about to enter the shrine,

“Your Highness.”

“What is it?”

“May I go in? It looks like an important place…”

“Come in.”

He had brought him here to show him anyway.

The moment he received the blessing of fire, he would understand clearly which side he should take, between the collateral line and the direct line.

“I understand.”

Hans cautiously entered the shrine.

Inside the shrine, everything was exactly as it had been, except that it was covered in dust.

Ethan approached the altar.

“Hans.”

“Yes.”

“Take out all the materials.”

“Yes.”

The byproducts he had collected while hunting monsters before arriving here were placed one by one.

He looked at Elena and Myers.

“Now we will begin the Festival of Fire. It’s simple. Offer the gifts, and when the sparks begin to fly, dance around the altar.”

“Dance?”

Elena tilted her head.

“Just dance in a way that you think is grand and spectacular.”

“Then the spirits will appear?”

“Yes. When the spirits gather, they will bestow their blessings.”

“That easy?”

“Probably.”

After opening his eyes here.

Ethan had been looking through some history books to see how much the past had changed.

“Fifteen years.”

It was a time completely different from the past he remembered.

All the major events that had happened before that had unfolded exactly the same.

It had been well over a hundred years since the fire spirit and Duke Ardan had begun their exchange.

Therefore, the “covenant” between his ancestors and the fire spirit must still be in effect.

If it wasn’t?

“It would be unfortunate, but we wouldn’t receive the blessings, that’s all.”

Not only had they offered tribute, but they were also planning to perform a ritual that the spirits would enjoy through dance, so they would not show any hostile attitude.

“Let’s get ready.”

“Yes.”

Ethan placed all the materials on the altar.

He placed candles on the candlesticks around him and lit them.

The darkness inside the shrine began to flicker with light.

Ethan muttered in an ancient language.

It was a phrase he had learned from his father in his previous life.

Spirit of Fire.

The descendants of Ardan have come.

We offer our tribute.

We offer fire.

We offer dance.

Reveal yourself.

The six ancient phrases used in the ritual came to an end.

The candles burst into flames.

Tiny sparks began to fly among the dozens of candles.

“It’s out.”

The passageway of fire was connected.

The moment Ethan nodded, his companions began to dance.

The tiny sparks danced and swayed, then began to stick to the members of the group one by one.

The more sparks that stuck, the higher the affinity for the element of fire.

Highest, middle, lowest, and lowest.

The clan classified affinity into these five grades.

“Meyers is about middle grade.”

If he had trained the black flame’s breath since childhood, he would have had upper-level talent.

It was unfortunate, but now was the right time to receive the blessing, so there was nothing he could do.

Elena’s talent was lower-level.

Soon, the sparks that had gathered near them began to take shape.

“They are the descendants of the Ardan family.”

[What a cute girl.]

From the intermediate fire spirit, Ifrit, to the lower-level spirit, Salamander.

Numerous sparks were generated near the two spirits, causing a commotion in the area.

However, the commotion was short-lived.

All the spirits’ eyes began to focus on one place as if by mutual agreement.

[Oh my God.]

[What on earth is that…

Ethan stood in front of the altar.

Even though he wasn’t dancing, countless sparks clung to his body, completely covering him.

In his previous life, Ethan had reached a stage where his very existence attracted fire. He had surpassed even the highest level.

The master of fire.

That was one of his nicknames.

In his previous life, he had received a blessing from Ignis, the highest-ranking spirit, at a young age, but…

“Now, even Ignis is not enough.”

He could no longer be satisfied with that. The experience of transcendence had already become part of his flesh.

It was the same even after he returned to the past.

Just by vibrating the essence of fire on his wrist, countless sparks would stick to it.

“Who will bless me?”

Ethan said toward the fire passage that had grown taller in no time.

At that moment, the passage began to tremble.

[His Majesty has descended!]

[Bow down! Descendants of the Ardan family!]

The passageway grew to half the size of the shrine.

Countless fire spirits gathered near the passageway. The moment they all merged into one.

[Did you call me?]

A voice flowed out from between the blazing heat.

It was a voice so powerful that just hearing it made one’s body sway.

It was undoubtedly a spirit of a higher rank than Ignis, the highest-ranking spirit.

It must be the spirit army commander I had only read about in books.

A big fish had taken the bait.

“Yes. I want your blessing. Directly from you.”

Ethan’s eyes lit up.